World Cup
I had one of those strange experiences of memory last night, watching America’s opening World Cup game against Paraguay. In the build-up to the game, the Fox telecast did a fair amount of retrospective programming about the 1994 World Cup, showing lots of footage from 32 years ago.
THIRTY-TWO YEARS AGO!
It’s a cliche, but true in this case: I remember it as if it were yesterday. The 94 World Cup was being hosted in America for the first time, and I remember there being lots of hype around the entire event. One of the ideas behind having America host the 94 World Cup was to introduce soccer to an American audience. It certainly worked for me and my brother—we watched virtually every match, and I can remember where I was—and even the weather outside—when I think back on specific games.
The opening match was in Chicago and featured Germany, which was one of the teams I was pulling for. (For some reason the teams I was pulling for were the US team, the Germans, Sweden, and Italy. I was rooting against Brazil, and I have no idea why.) Jurgen Klinsmann scored in the opening match wearing that awesome 90s German jersey with all the color blocks. (See above.) We were in Cape Cod and it was a BEAUTIFUL June day. I remember going out to the back yard of my parents’ Cape house and playing soccer with my brother. That house had AMAZING grass—like a carpet.
That opening match in 1994 also featured a bizarre opening ceremony, in which Diana Ross gave the worst penalty kick of all time. Check out this 19 second clip.
I remember the match in Dallas between the Germans and the South Koreans. It was played in the Cotton Bowl, and it was HOT. The Germans were wilting at the end of the match, and the Koreans—who were super fit—were able to come back and almost tie the game.
I remember the US versus Brazil game, which was played on the Fourth of July. We lost, but come on, it was the Fourth of July and we were playing Brazil!!
We had a youth group event on the day of the final, so I taped it and watched it that Sunday evening. I was so sad when Roberto Baggio put his penalty over the bar to hand the World Cup to Brazil.
I was fourteen at the time. All of those memories were brought back to me as we watched the US play Paraguay last night.
I’m on the West Coast with my family, and it was surreal thinking how quickly these past thirty-two years have gone by. I’m married and a father now, and, because my folks are with us on our trip out west, we watched the US game as a family of three generations.
Here’s the question that all the stirred-up memories of 1994 have me wondering:
What would fourteen year-old me have thought of this, if he had had insight into the future?
That 94 World Cup got my brother and I into watching soccer. Following the World Cup, one of the local TV stations would play highlights from England and Italy each Thursday afternoon, and it was must-see TV for us. When we had to miss, we’d bug my mom to set the trusty VCR.
I haven’t followed the build-up to this year’s tournament and I don’t even know who the favorites are supposed to be, but last night’s festivities got me fired up. Can’t wait to watch as as many games as possible, hopefully with family around.
Quick thoughts on last night’s game:
Rebecca Lowe is the host of NBC’s English Premier League coverage, but I guess she is on loan to Fox for the tournament, because she was the studio host for the coverage last night. She’s great, as were the guys with her—Thierry Henry (French), Zlatan Ibrohimovich (Swede), and Alexi Lalas (American).
That Will Ferrell commercial for Lays potato chips about being a bandwagon fan is GREAT. Actually, I liked all the World Cup-themed commercials I saw last night.
It’s nice being on Pacific time and having the games occur earlier in the day. I could get used to this. Also, the weather on the West Coast?! Yes, please. There is a heat advisory this weekend, and it’s only going to be in the low 80s! Cracks me up.
There is one thing that I HATE about soccer, and as an American I will always hate: the “diving” and the writhing around on the ground. I’ve been watching soccer for over thirty years, and I still don’t get it. I find it shameful and unmanly—the way these amazing athletes pantomime injury and cry and writhe around, trying to get the ref to call a foul. We saw it happen last night when Miguel Almiron simulated being fouled by our captain Tim Ream. He dived to the ground even though replays showed that he was not even touched. Fortunately, the ref reversed his initial decision to penalize the US. I’ve cued up the video for you here.
I think the culture around fouling in soccer is one of the things that will keep soccer from ever really catching on in America. Patrick Mahomes is really disliked because of the way that NFL fans think he milks the slightest touch to grab a roughing penalty. And his behavior is not in the same universe of these whining soccer players!
As I mentioned, I haven’t really been paying much attention to the World Cup this year, but it was exciting last night to cheer for our boys and have us not only win, but win big, and score on the final kick of the game! USA!
Everyone knows America is really divided these days, so here’s hoping our boys will have a deep run in the tournament. I think that could be just what America needs, leading up to our 250th. Who knows?
P.S. I think the Seattle World Cup logo is a perfection of graphic design. How cool is this?
